End: and he that thinks upon good ~ Grounds, that this End cannot be fe-Sermon IV. cured, unless every Word and Syllable were immediately dictated, he hath reason to believe it was fo; but if any man upon good Grounds thinks the end of writing the Scripture may be fufficiently fecured without that, he hath no reason to conclude, that God, who is not wanting in what is neceffary, is guilty of doing what is fuperfluous. And if any man is of opinion that Mofes might write the Hiftory of thofe Actions which he himself did or was prefent at, without an immediate Revelation of them; or that Solomon by his natural and acquired Wisdom might fpeak those Wife Sayings which are in his Proverbs; or the Evangelifts might write what they heard and faw, or what they had good Afsurance of from others, as St. Luke tells he did; or that St.Paul might write for his Cloak and Parchments at Troas, and falute by name hisFriends and Brethren, or that he might advise Timothy to drink a little Wine, &c. without the immediate dictate of the Spirit of God, he seems to have reason Volume XII. on his fide. For that men may, without an immediate Revelation, write those things which they think without a Revelation feems very plain. And that they did fo, there is this probable Argument for it, because we find that the Evangelifts, in relating the Difcourfes of Chrift, are very far from agreeing in the particular Expreffions and Words, tho they do agree in the Subftance of the Difcourfes: but if the Words had been dictated by the Spirit of God, they must have agreed in them. For when St. Luke differs from St. Matthew, in relating what our Saviour faid, it is impoffible that they should both relate it right as to the very Words and Forms of Expreffion; but they both relate the Subftance of what he faid. And if it had been of Concernment, that every thing that they wrote, fhould be diEtated ad apicem, to a tittle, by the Spirit of God,it is of the fameConcernment ftill, that the Providence of God fhould have fecured the Scriptures fince to a tittle from the least alteration; which that it is not done, appears by the various readings both of the Old and New Teftament, con cern cerning which, no man can infallib ly fay, that this is right, and not the other. It feems fufficient in this matter to affert, that the Spirit of God did reveal to the Pen-men of the Scriptures what was neceffary to be revealed; and as to all other things, that he did fuperintend them in the writing of it, fo far as to fecure them from any material Error or Mistake in what they have delivered. Or, 4. If the Queftion be, What affurance we have from Miracles, that all thofe Books which we receive are canonical? To this I Anfwer, I do not know of any Miracle that was ever wrought on purpose to confirm the Canon of the Scriptures: but as for the Books of the Old Teftament, we have fufficient affurance, that those which we now receive, are those which the Jews received for fuch in our Saviour's time; and he doth not any where find fault with any of them as not Canonical, which we have no reason to doubt but he would have done, if any one of them had been otherwise. And that these are the fame the Jews then received, appears fufficiently Sermon IV. ciently, because both Jews and ChriVolume ftians to this day agree in them. As XII. for the Books of the New Teftament, we are fufficiently affur'd, That these and no other are the Books which the Ancient Church received for Canonical, and of Divine Authority; and tho' fome of them were for a time controverted, yet upon farther enquiry and examination they were received. V. Whether this Faith concerning a Divine Revelation made to others, do admit of degrees? That it doth is evident from thefe Expreffions which the Scripture ufeth, of increasing Faith, of growing in it, of a weak, and strong faith, all which plainly fuppofe degrees. And that thefe degrees of Faith which the Scripture fpeaks of, are to be understood of a higher and lower degree of affurance concerning a Divine Revelation as fuch, and concerning the things revealed, I fhew'd before. For all the Doubts which the Difciples had concerning what our Saviour taught, did refolve it felf into this, Whether he was the Meffias, and fent by God to teach thofe things; which had they been fully fatisfied of, they they could have made no doubt of any thing that he taught. Sermon And here it will be proper to enquire,what is the higheff degree of affurance which we can have concerning a Divine Revelation made to another, that it is fuch; whether it be an infallible affurance, or only an undoubted certainty. The difference between them is this; An infallible affurance is fuch as excludes all poffibility of Error and Mistake: an undoubted certainty doth not exclude all poffibility of mistake, but only all juft and reafonable cause why a prudent and confiderate man fhould doubt. And the reason why I make this Enquiry, is in order to be fatisfied of a clear and firm way for the refolution of our Faith against the Papifts, who fay it is impoffible for us to give any fatisfactory account of our Faith, becaufe we do finally refolve it into fallible grounds, and confequently our Faith must be fallible, and confequently cannot be Divine, because all Divine Faith is infallible: for, fay they, when we enquire why you believe the Doctrines of Chriftian Religion; You fay, IV. |